


it's your heart (that gives me this western feeling)

by yotrashkid



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, McDonald's AU, ace is the dumbass who tries to woo him with free milkshakes, everyone else just wants them to get together already, sabo is the guy that just keeps coming over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 15:17:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12301872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yotrashkid/pseuds/yotrashkid
Summary: As much as Ace wants to deny it at first, he has to admit that maybe, after spending two weeks constantly looking at the blonde, he has... a slight crush on the guy.Marco snorts at that. “A slight crush? Dude, you’re ogling at that poor guy whenever he comes in. In fact, you are doing that right now.”





	it's your heart (that gives me this western feeling)

**Author's Note:**

> shieru really wanted an AU where Ace works at McDonald's and im here to provide. this is the result of us flinging various scenarios at each other at 1AM.

As much as Ace wants to deny it at first, he has to admit that maybe, after spending two weeks constantly looking at the blonde, he has... a slight crush on the guy.

Marco snorts at that. “A _slight_ crush? Dude, you’re ogling at that poor guy whenever he comes in. In fact, you are doing that right now.”

Ace stammers out that no, he was just looking in that direction and Blondie just happened to be there, pointedly turns away from the counter and walks up to the ice cream machine. That damn thing tends to get stuck and they have to unjam it from time to time.

“Ah look, your ears are turning red!” Marco playfully tugs on his left ear, finding the whole situation funny.

Ace just swats his hand away and continues fiddling with the buttons, pretending to be completely engrossed with making sure the machine works properly.

“You just admitted that you have a crush on the dude, why are you getting so defensive now?”

Ace shoots Marco a slightly annoyed look, “it’s embarrassing when you point it out like that? I don’t know.”

“The only thing that’s embarrassing is that you still haven’t asked him out.” Ace hears Thatch laugh from where the deep fryers are and feels the sudden urge to smash his head against the ice cream machine. If Thatch heard their conversation, then the rest did too and now he’ll never hear the end of it. They’ll probably tease him about his little crush any chance they get.

He explains that he can’t just casually walk up to the guy and ask him out - that would be weird and unprofessional – and also, he doesn’t even know his name. What would he even say if he dared to go up to him? ‘Hey, you seem to be new around here and you look interesting and that scar is hella cool too, maybe you’d like to go on a date? By the way, could you tell me your name too?’

That is not happening _ever._ Period.

Right now, Ace is content with just looking at Blondie whenever he comes in during the lunch rush hour, aka ‘Hell Hour’. He always sits at the same corner booth near the window on the left, which is always magically empty even during the busiest hours. The guy doesn’t buy much, just a cheese burger and a big pack of fries, sometimes he’ll even take a milkshake. Ace has noted that he seems to like the strawberry ones the most.

Ace glances back and yeah, he’s still there, munching on some fries, looking pretty content. He’s wearing a blue cardigan with grey jeans today and Ace has a passing thought that Blondie looks ridiculously good in blue, before his attention shifts back to the machine.

Blondie started coming to their particular McDonalds quite recently. Sure, they have their usual regulars, like that hobo hipster dude Kuzan or the short-tempered Kid and his group of friends, and other faceless customers, but that guy in particular just somehow managed to captivate him the first time he set foot in the place.

It was pouring like hell outside so there wasn’t much work to do that day as the restaurant was half-empty. Ace was casually resting on the counter, glancing at the clock on the cash register every couple of minutes, feeling quite sluggish and bored out of his mind.

He peeked at the register for like the 100th time that day. Another thirty minutes and then Marco would take his place and he would finally have his break - a good long nap on the couch in Whitebeard’s office.

His attention lazily shifted to the entrance once he heard the glass door close with a clang. A guy had stepped inside, drenched from head to toe and a bit out of breath – must’ve ran here - though he didn’t look even a bit bothered by that. He casually made his way towards the counter.

Ace straightened up and waited for him to make an order. While the guy was looking at the menu, he subtly looked him over. Just an ordinary tall blonde dude, though he had a quite noticeable scar on the left side of his face, which he had to admit, looked pretty cool. He idly wondered what’s the backstory behind it. A wicked accident maybe?

There was nothing special about the order, just a Big Mac to go.

The guy slicked back the stray wet locks of hair that kept falling into his blue eyes, grabbed the bag, shot a smile to Ace as a thank you and left.  And that... that was it. It was enough for Ace’s heart to stutter in his chest and his cheeks to heat up slightly as he watched the man leave.

Of course, he figured that he’ll never see the guy again so he didn’t really think much of this encounter. He’d probably forget about him after like a day.

He was wrong.

The guy, or as he calls him now, Blondie, started coming in everyday, always at the same time and Ace hasn’t been able to get him out of his head. It’s just that he’s so cool and casual and polite too. He has this _something_ about him that has Ace admiring the man from afar.

And now he’s stuck, not sure what to do with himself and his crush, content with just looking but secretly wanting a bit more than just that. Even being just friends would be great as long as he gets to see him more.

“You know, you could give subtle hints that you’d like to talk to him,” Marco leans on the ice cream machine and looks past Ace to Blondie, a thoughtful look on his face.

Ace turns around and slumps on the counter, chin in hand and eyes squinting at nothing in particular.

He could give Blondie a strawberry milkshake, since he obviously likes them. They still do that random lucky customer thing so he could give it away for free and there would be a good excuse to say more than just ‘Hello, what would you like to order?’ and ‘Have a nice meal’.

Maybe he could make small talk then? It wouldn’t be that weird, right?

-

Ace’s “plan”, if it could even be called that, does not go as expected.

He thought that it would be another slow day - Blondie would just walk in, order his stuff and Ace would smoothly place the milkshake on the guy’s tray and announce that hey, he’s the lucky customer, enjoy your meal and a free milkshake.

Blondie would thank him and then Ace would comment how he’s been seeing the dude coming in frequently, then one thing would lead to another and they would finally get acquainted.

In reality, the place is packed with people, there’s a line of ladies in front of Ace and he’s working his ass off serving them.  Blondie’s standing in the other (wrong) line, chatting on his phone and Ace can’t go on with his plan; everything’s too hectic and people are ordering a shitton of food, there wouldn’t be any time to talk to the guy, yet alone make any announcements.

It happens when he’s rushing back to the counter with a salad in one hand and a McWrap in another. He slips on a puddle of grease next to the deep fryers, the food goes flying out of his hands and he passes out the instant he connects with the floor. Well, technically, his narcolepsy kicks in at the worst moment possible and he can’t do shit about it.

He’s been very vocal about being especially tired that day so his work buddies aren’t even surprised that he falls asleep right there. Vista drags his body out of the way, carefully props him up against the wall – not forgetting to put Ace’s hat back on - and takes over the register, continuing on with work as if nothing happened, punching in orders and grabbing food from the kitchen.

Some of the ladies in Ace’s line are visibly upset and there’s a murmur of questions asking if the pretty boy is really okay, why isn’t anybody attending to him. Vista calms the clients down by saying that Ace has a condition, there’s nothing to be worried about - he’s actually fine and he’ll come to soon enough.

And Ace wakes up pretty fast - he probably slept for only 5 minutes tops - a bit disoriented and embarrassed that he had one of his episodes right in front of Blondie.  The ladies are practically shoving themselves at the counter, trying to asses from afar if Ace is really okay.  With an awkward wave to the clients and what he hopes is a reassuring smile, he stands up and moves deeper into the kitchen. Marco shoots a worried look in his direction while he’s pouring a drink and Ace answers him with a quick nod, indicating that he’s okay.

He takes Vista’s place in front of the cooker and dejectedly flips burger meat. There goes his cool guy persona. If working at McDonald’s could even be considered to be remotely cool in the first place.

It’s not like it’s the first time he falls asleep on the job too – the worst time was when he passed out outside during a blizzard while delivering a takeout to a car nearby, wearing only a T-shirt. Or when he was mopping the floors; he managed to kick over the bucket when falling and he slept in the puddle of soapy water for a good five minutes, right in front of the entrance during Hell Hour. Or when he almost took a dive into the deep fryer that one time, thank god Thatch was there to catch him – needless to say, he’s not allowed to work near boiling oil.

He pushes his stupid red McDonald’s hat downwards to cover his face and sulks throughout Hell Hour, not even daring to spare a glance at Blondie. He’s not really bothered by his condition, he’s been living with it since he was just a kid and his friends and co-workers accept it as just another part of what makes Ace Ace. But it makes other people that are not well acquainted with him a bit nervous that he might randomly pass out on them.

And Ace doesn’t want Blondie to be wary of him like that.

After his shift is over and his lectures are done for the day, Ace spends the evening moping around his apartment. Luffy probably notices that he’s not being his usual self but doesn’t comment on it, just continues shoveling as much meat as he can during dinner and leaves for a meet up with his friends after.

If Luffy doesn’t ask about what’s bothering him, it’s because he thinks that Ace will be able to deal with it on his own. So if Luffy thinks that, then Ace can surely do it. He hopes.

-

The next week, Ace manages to successfully give the free milkshake to Blondie. Blondie accepts the drink with a simple ‘oh, cool, thank you’ but as Ace is mentally preparing to casually comment on how he’s been frequenting the place, the guy just walks off to his booth, not looking back even once. At least he didn’t look at him like he’s wary that Ace could pass out any minute so that’s a relief.

Ace stares at the space that Blondie just occupied, mouth slightly open in shock. Thatch just pats him on the shoulder a couple of times; it’s obvious from his scrunched up face that he’s trying to come up with something positive to say.

“Just don’t. _Please_.”

It’s okay, maybe Blondie’s just in a rush to eat his food. And Ace was kinda taking his time – next time he has to be a bit faster.

He plans to give Blondie another milkshake; he’ll definitely talk to him next time.

-

The same thing happens again the next day and the next but Ace persists. By the start of the new week, Blondie starts to look a tad bit questioningly at getting another free drink again.

“I’m the lucky customer?”

“Yup,” Ace just shoots him his best smile, all teeth and crinkled eyes. They’re talking, that’s progress. He gives himself some mental pats on the back.

“For a whole week in a row?”

There’s nothing but loud internal screeching now and Ace hopes that it doesn’t become external. Because of course Blondie would fucking question why he’s getting those damn milkshakes every day for _free_. He wanted to talk but not like this. He tries not to let his panic show.

He quickly tries to come up with something other to say than ‘I just really wanted to talk to you’ or ‘because I kinda like you?’ and what he blurts out in the end is a high pitched, “I guess you’re just a really lucky guy?”

He swears that there’s faint snickering coming from the kitchen – damn those bastards, he’d love to see them come up with a better explanation when put on a spot like this – and fucking prays that Blondie doesn’t question him further.

Said guy narrows his eyes at Ace, gaze even more confused. They stare at each other for what feels like forever; it feels like Blondie is trying to figure him out. Ace feels his palms getting clammy and his smile twitch a bit but he braves on, never breaking eye contact, still trying to smile.

After a moment, Blondie grins - it seems he’s found the answer he’s been looking for.

“I guess I am,” he lets out a soft chuckle, takes his tray and retreats to his spot, giving one last interested glance at Ace.

Once he’s out of earshot, the snickering behind Ace turns into full, blown out laughter and he slowly turns the same shade of red as his uniform. He shoves his face into his palms in shame and stands like that for a couple of minutes, confused and embarrassed beyond belief, until a customer asks if he could take their order.

-

Marco tells Ace to continue giving Blondie free milkshakes. He protests at first, not wanting to give the staff any more reason to laugh at him even more, but his friend insists. Sure, it’s fucking funny to see Ace, a cool and collected guy, basically gush whenever he’s giving Blondie his drink, but if he stops now, what message would that send to the dude. ‘Oh sorry, I’m not that interested in you anymore, so no more free stuff, buzz off’. When Marco puts it like that, Ace has to begrudgingly admit that he has a point, but he’s still skeptical.

“Dude, come on, just don’t stop giving him those milkshakes and you’ll definitely talk again.” Vista is shaking him as if that’ll help Ace change his mind.

What really does it is when Jozu, who’s usually quite silent, casually drops “He likes you too, so just do it,” and continues wrapping burgers like he didn’t just drop a truth bomb.

Ace’s brain short-circuits.

“He likes me?” He points at himself, utter disbelief all over his face, “ _me_?”

“Well yeah, why do you think he stopped questioning you? Or why he still accepted those milkshakes? He could’ve told you to stop like the third day,” Vista stops shaking him, rests his hands on Ace’s shoulders and squeezes reassuringly.

“But he laughed!”

“I would’ve too if I was him,” Vista pats his freckled cheeks, gently shoves him towards the cash registers and returns to the deep fryers, “It’s a pretty ridiculous way to show affection but whatever works for you, kid. Now go back to work and don’t forget the free milkshake.”

Ace really doubts that Blondie likes him – if someone was giving him free food, he would just take it without questioning because hey, it’s fucking free. Maybe Blondie’s thinking the same thing. Maybe he was thinking how to use this to his own advantage.

-

He continues giving the dude his free strawberry milkshakes whenever he doesn’t order one himself because the rest of the staff insist on it. At least Blondie looks amused every single time, showering Ace with smiles whenever he comes in; it’s fucking up Ace’s heartrate.

-

One day, Blondie walks in with a short, cute girl in tow. They’re chatting, arms gesturing animatedly while they wait in line. There are subtle touches here and there and knowing glances that end in abrupt laughter that has them both doubling over. Blondie’s hair falls into his eyes and the girl flicks it away, an annoyed look on her face. She says something but they’re too far away for Ace to hear.

It looks like they’re together. Like a _couple_.

Jozu was wrong.

Ace’s mood drops from relatively good to sour so fast he starts jabbing the orders into the register screen and then slams the cash drawer, making some of the customers upfront flinch.

Marco gives him the ‘you need to fucking chill or you’re getting some time out, mister’ look. Ace has the decency to give an apologetic look back and tries to be a bit more gentle with the machine – he’d probably have to say goodbye to his salary for like a year if he breaks it somehow – but it’s hard when all he sees is the pair’s playful interactions whenever he looks at them.

He serves another customer, more calmly this time, and looks up to Blondie again. God, the guy looks so good today, hell, he looks good all the damn time. Actually, it would be a surprise if he didn’t have a girlfriend now that he thinks about it.

Ace feels a somewhat wistful smile tugging at his lips and decides to stop looking at Blondie. Should probably stop looking at him in general from now on.

He spares a last glance at the girl, intending to focus his attention on the customer at hand, and freezes. She is looking straight at him, brows furrowed as if she’s in deep thought. How long has she been staring at him?

She looks at Blondie, who hasn’t noticed that his girlfriend isn’t paying attention to the conversation anymore, and then looks back again at Ace. She glances like this a couple of times more. She definitely saw him staring at Blondie. Fuck.

Blondie seems to notice that the girl isn’t listening, peeks where she is looking, smiles when he notices that it’s Ace and just continues talking, shifting his attention back to her. Suddenly, she gets this knowing look on her face and even from across the restaurant, Ace can see the glint in her eyes.

Okay, what.

A customer tentatively waves a hand in front of his face and Ace’s attention snaps back to his job. Right, he actually has to work here, not look at pretty boys and their equally cute girlfriends.

He gets increasingly nervous with every customer he serves; what if the girlfriend starts asking questions? What if Blondie told her about the free milkshakes? Jesus fuck, did he bring her here just so that they both could get free drinks?

Ace’s brain is overloading with questions by the time it’s Blondie’s turn to order. Blondie wouldn’t be such a dick as to use Ace like this, would he?

“One cheeseburger and big fries, a big strawberry milkshake, a spicy McWrap with chicken and beef, some McNuggets and a big Coke.”

“Get a big McDonald’s complex instead, geez, you’re already as thick as a twig,” the girl pokes Blondie in the ribs, making him squirm in turn as he’s trying to pay. The last thing Ace wants to see is them being touchy feely with each other so he quickly takes the cash and turns around to get their order. At least Blondie somewhat spared him the embarrassment and ordered the milkshake himself.

“You’re not my mom, Koala, stop telling me what to do.”

Ace places the last items of food on the tray and wishes for them to finally go away. He tries not to visibly show that he’s sulking while looking at the pair.

“I’m not your _girlfriend_ either _,”_ Koala’s looking straight into Ace’s eyes now, a playful smirk on her face,” but at this rate you’ll never find anyone if you look like you’re starving all the time, _Sabo_.” She tugs on Blon- _Sabo_ ’s cheek and they wander off towards Sabo’s usual booth, bickering.

Koala looks back at Ace, gives him a quick thumbs-up and – was that a wink? She definitely winked at him.

For a second he’s confused, why would she do that?

Yeah, now he knows Blondie’s real name because of her and Koala clearly stated that she’s not his girlfrie- oh.

Ohhhhhhhh.

They’re not together.

They’re _not_ actually together.

He snorts, realizing that he jumped to conclusions a bit too fast.

Sabo is single. Ace can keep giving Sabo his strawberry milkshakes. It looks like Koala approves of whatever Ace is doing too. Ace actually has a chance to ask Sabo out.

He feels laughter bubbling in his chest but manages to hold it in – doesn’t want to start laughing like a maniac in front of the clients – but he can’t quite stop his lips from stretching into a face splitting smile that stays there for the rest of the day.

-

Everything returns to usual, though Koala tags along with Sabo from time to time. She always gives him these encouraging looks whenever Ace’s serving them and it never fails to give him a little confidence boost. Everything’s gonna work out, he just feels it.

-

They get a brand new batch of Happy Meal toys after the popularity of minions finally dies down.

Ace drops to his knees, throws his hands in the air and almost weeps with joy once Whitebeard announces that they’ll be changing them with “Two Piece” themed toys. To say that he dislikes minions would be an understatement. He **_loathes_** them. Whenever he sees anything minion-related, he can’t do anything but sneer in disgust.

They had a two meter tall cardboard cutout of one, stationed right next to the Happy Meal toy display. It was positioned in such a way that whenever Ace looked at it, it stared with its single soulless eye right back at him, its cheeky smile taunting him.

It disappeared after three days.

And if someone wonders where it went, Ace denies knowing anything. He definitely didn’t kick it down and definitely didn’t set it on fire in the alleyway behind McDonald’s when he was working the night shift on that specific Thursday.

They never put up a new one.

Sometimes he has vague dreams about minions rising from the ashes, screaming ‘banana’ over and over but forgets about them once he’s fully out of bed.

Right now, Ace is gleefully shoving the last remaining minion toys from the Happy Meal toy stand into the trash, right where they belong. He’s been tasked with getting rid of the old ones - Whitebeard felt like he’s the best man for the job. He briefly pauses, wondering if Whitebeard knows about the cutout.

Eh, whatever, he’s still working here so it doesn’t matter.

He shoves the trash bin into a corner and retrieves a box with the new toys from the back.

Ace is carefully putting them on the display and all he can think is that the toys look godawful. He has seen bootlegs that looked way better than these pieces of cheap plastic. He looks at the figurine that’s supposed to be Lubby, the central character, and winces – it looks like half of his face has melted off and his arm is fused with the piece of ?meat? that it’s holding.

How is any kid gonna want to have this piece of junk?

He puts Lubby on display and crouches to grab the last toy, a dude with what vaguely resembles a hat and some red blobs coming from his left side.

“Hey, you’re selling “Two Piece” toys now?”

Ace squints at the figurine, trying to figure out who it’s supposed to be – he stopped watching the anime a few years ago so he doesn’t really know any of the new characters. “Yeah, though the quality is so bad I’m still wondering how they were approved for distribution.”

“It can’t be _that_ bad.”

“Trust me, it _is._ ” Ace lifts the figurine up so that whoever’s talking to him could look at the atrocious thing too. He finally looks up himself and almost drops the figurine.

Sabo.

Sabo’s talking to him.

He takes the toy from Ace’s grip and closely inspects it, turning it over a few times. Meanwhile Ace stands up and just stares, mind completely blank.

“You know, you kinda look like him,” Sabo announces after a moment, holding up the toy next to Ace’s face for comparison.

“I look _nothing_ like _that_!” he shrieks, grabs the toy from Sabo’s hand and shoves it to the farthest corner of the display.

He turns to Sabo with an unimpressed expression, ready to tell him off – crush be damned - but the man’s laughing now, eyes tightly shut and two rows of straight white teeth clearly visible. Whatever complaint he has for the guy dies in his throat. He doesn’t think he can ever be mad at him when Sabo laughs like that.

Sabo reigns in his laughter after a bit. “Now I’m definitely buying that Andrew figurine.”

Ace’s face scrunches up. “Why would you buy such a shitty figurine?”

“Because I love this character,” Sabo takes out his phone from his coat pocket and shows the screen to Ace. “I even have him as my lock screen.”

He takes a closer look. Ace can see why Sabo compared them two - they have some pretty similar visual features, the freckles being the most notable.

“Don’t you want to get like a proper figurine then?” he asks, locking up the display and shoving the empty box towards the trash bin. Ace moves to take his place behind the cash register; Sabo follows and leans a bit on the counter on the opposite side, never breaking conversation.

“I would buy one but they cost a lot. Plus, the shipping fees are unbelievable these days, especially if you’re getting stuff from overseas,” Sabo sighs, looking up at the menu.

“Well that sucks,” Ace looks back at the kitchen – the guys look totally engrossed with their work but he knows that they’re listening in – and shifts his attention fully to Sabo. “So, should I get you the usual?”

“Nah, I’m getting a Happy Meal today,” Sabo beams at him.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not,” Sabo rest his chin in his palm, staring right into his eyes. “One Happy Meal with an Andrew figurine, please.”

Ace just stares at him, face blank. He can’t believe he actually likes this guy.

He gets the food, begrudgingly shoves the malformed figurine into the bag and hands it to Sabo. He gets ready to leave but Ace stops him. “Wait just a sec.”

He turns around to quickly make a milkshake and spots Marco’s hand holding one, right above the drink machine. He gets closer to take it and Marco whispers “You’re doing great, kiddo,” before disappearing into the depths of the kitchen. Fucking weirdo.

“One free strawberry milkshake for today’s lucky customer. Have a nice meal, uhh-“

“Sabo. I’m Sabo.” Sabo nods at him, accepting the drink. Smooth, Ace, fucking smooth.

“Have a nice meal, Sabo,” Ace smiles back. “Oh, I’m Ace by the way.” He extends his right hand.

“Yeah, I know. It’s on your name tag.”

Ace flushes a bit at that. Loud chuckling comes from the kitchen.

Sabo either doesn’t hear it or doesn’t mind it at all; he accepts Ace’s hand and gives it a few firm shakes.

“Pleasure to be acquainted, Ace.”

“The feeling’s mutual, Sabo.”

Once Sabo is out, Thatch tackles Ace into a tight hug, bringing them both down to the floor.

-

They start talking more from that point on, getting to know the basic stuff like likes, dislikes and all that.

Ace learns that Sabo’s working in an office a few blocks down, dealing with old people who call in to complain about their cable not working or their electricity being suddenly cut off - the usual shenanigans that happen with utilities. Apparently Koala has been his cubicle buddy for three years now. In turn, Sabo learns that Ace is working part time, studying Chemistry at a local university and that he has a hyperactive brother named Luffy.

They laugh over stupid chemistry jokes and share the music they like and it’s good. Hella good.

One time Sabo wonders how the university is allowing Ace to work with Bunsen burners and chemicals in general, considering his condition. Ace’s answer is that he can never touch any lab equipment without the supervision of a lab partner. He admits that he singed his hair a couple of times when his partner wasn’t quick enough to grab him though.

Ace feels a bit bold that day and questions why Sabo started frequenting this particular McDonald’s, because surely he could find a cheap place with better quality food much closer to his workplace. Sabo’s answer is a broad smile as he’s taking his free milkshake and walking away to his booth.

Ace tries not to go wild with speculations – it could mean anything – but it's hard not to think that maybe, just maybe, Sabo's coming there to see him.

That thought alone makes his chest tighten and his heart fill with this _feeling_ that has him smiling at his cracked bedroom ceiling at 3 o’clock in the morning.

-

At this point, Ace’s work buddies are giving him something akin to pep talks every time before his shifts start. Marco’s already listing the best places to go on dates where Ace’s unpredictable narcolepsy wouldn’t end in his untimely death.

Ace and Sabo know each other quite well by now and they get along like a house on fire. They even exchanged numbers and text each other pretty often. Sabo likes to bitch about some of the more 'mentally challenged' clients that he or Koala get and gush about “Two Piece”. Ace likes to retell the most ridiculous times he fell asleep and the many reasons why Luffy’s been called to the principal’s office.

He's starting to feel like he can finally ask Sabo out. He almost does so after a whole two months of this whole bizarre showing-affection-through-free-drinks thing he has been doing.

But every time he tries to say ‘Hey, I hope this isn’t too weird for you, but would you like to go on a date with me?’ his mouth stops functioning and his tongue turns to lead.  Sabo looks at him questioningly and notes that he's gone uncharacteristically quiet all of a sudden. Ace at least manages to come up with somewhat believable lies about an assignment that's due pretty soon or important stuff he forgot at home.

Sabo looks at him like he knows that Ace is telling utter bullshit but doesn't question further and Ace is thankful for that.

Vista swears that he'll go bald pretty soon if Ace continues to chicken out.

A whole week goes by like this and Ace's confidence starts slowly dropping. At this rate, he'll never be able to actually do it.

-

At the start of Monday, Ace arrives at work tired and pretty dejected.

He spent all weekend practicing in front of the mirror and then with Luffy’s friends who came over for a movie marathon. He had no problem asking out Zoro or Robin or even Franky and he was so confused why he suddenly lost his composure when he had to ask Sabo. At that, Nami promptly announced that he’s an idiot and that duh, it’s because he has actual more-than-friendly feelings for the dude and that he was scared that he would be turned down.

Ace’s eyes had been opened to the truth that Sunday morning.

Sadly, that lead to Ace being way more self-critical than he should be.

During the night, he beat himself over and over for being so scared of being rejected. He knows that judging by the way their friendship is going, Sabo would agree to go on the stupid date – so why he can’t get over it and just ask him. It’s so fucking _frustrating_.

Before his shift starts, the guys crowd around him again, clapping him on the back and ruffling his hair in encouragement but it doesn’t do much to lift his spirits. Though he's really glad that they're supporting him so openly and unabashedly.

Marco announces that working hours have officially started and everyone moves to their respective work stations.

Ace leans on the counter and wishes for the day to finally be over.

Sabo comes in at the usual time, all smiles and jokes and Ace aches. Why can’t he just ask the dude out? Why does his body have to shut down every damn time he tries? _Sabo’s not gonna reject him_.

He tries to appear at least a bit cheerful, laughs along with Sabo but it comes out weak and half-assed.

This shouldn’t be a problem for him. He’s _Ace,_ “cool and collected” Ace who never had a problem asking anybody out. _Never_. Sure, he was a bit of a chicken at first but he had his reasons. This time shouldn’t be any different.

But he knows that it _is_.

Sabo notices that something is way off with him and the jokes stop and he looks very very worried now. He opens his mouth, probably to ask what’s wrong, but Ace is faster.

“I couldn’t sleep all night so I feel like shit. Don’t really feel like telling jokes when I’m dead tired, sorry,” Ace sighs and runs a hand through his hair, shoving off his hat in the process. He’ll pick it up once he’s done with serving Sabo.

Sabo still looks pretty unsure but takes the tray and walks off to his booth.

He works through Hell Hour, visibly brooding and mad at himself, this time for not even trying at all. He feels several gazes on him but ignores them as best as he could.

He’s so unfocused that he doesn’t notice Sabo cut in line and stand in front of him. He puts both of his hands down on the counter and leans closer to Ace, making Ace finally notice the man. A senior behind Sabo grumbles something about youths being very rude these days.

“I’m not an idiot, it’s pretty clear why you’re so down in the dumps today,” Sabo starts and he has Ace’s full attention instantly.`

“I realize that I’ve been unfair, making you do all the work, and I really don’t want to see you struggle with this anymore so,” he takes in a big breath. “Go out on a date with me this Saturday.”

Ace would probably be grabbing the guy to kiss him right there and then if he wasn’t face-planting on the counter right after Sabo asks him out.

Sabo looks at the passed out Ace, then at Marco, who just shrugs, and back to Ace again.

“I guess I can take that as a yes.”

-

Ace jumps awake, screaming ‘yes’ right into Sabo’s startled face.

Sabo falls back and Ace twists in his blanket in confusion, falling off the couch and getting entangled in that darn thing even more in the process. Once his eyes adjust to the darkness, he realizes that they’re in Whitebeard’s office.

“I slept till night?”

Sabo winces a bit as he stands up and heads towards the window. “Nah, you slept for like an hour at most. It’s still day.” He opens the blinds just slightly and light invades the room.

Ace hisses and covers his eyes with the blanket. “A little heads-up would be nice next time.”

“Ah sorry,” Ace hears him move back to him. Sabo’s knee’s crack loudly as he squats down in front of Ace.

“You feeling any better now?”

“I’m definitely less tired,” Ace pokes his head out, still looking a bit groggy. He squints at Sabo. “My head hurts.”

“You did smash it pretty hard back there,” Sabo playfully squints right back at him and brushes the hair out of Ace’s face, gently touching the bandage plastered right in the middle of his big forehead.

Ace leans into the touch and sighs, content.

It feels nice.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” Sabo quietly murmurs.

Ace opens his eyes at that, shooting a questioning gaze at the other man. Sabo moves a bit closer and sits so that their knees are touching. His hands move to untangle Ace’s hair.

Ace feels something like excitement build up tight in his chest at their close proximity. His hands shake slightly so he grips the blanket tighter to make them stop.

“I thought you lost some kind of bet to your co-workers and as punishment, you had to give the same guy free milkshakes for a week,” Sabo chuckles at the memory and continues, “And that I was the lucky guy who just happened to frequent this place enough to be the perfect recipient. It was kinda hard to think of it as anything else when your colleagues were snickering right behind your back when you were giving me the drinks.”

Sabo finishes patting Ace’s hair back in place and leans back so that he could look at Ace properly.

“The second week I started to understand that maybe I had jumped to the wrong conclusions a bit too fast and by the third I definitely knew that I looked at the whole situation wrong. Then later we actually started talking and texting and...  What I’m trying to say is that Koala had been telling me right from the start that it’s not some stupid prank but I was just too stubborn,” Sabo looks down at his hands that are fiddling with the hem of his blue cardigan that Ace loves so much. “I just didn’t want to let myself hope for something more.” He glances up at Ace, a shy smile on his lips.

It takes a moment for the information to sink in, but once it does, Ace is shuffling closer and grabbing Sabo’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

He wants to say so many things; he wants to explain himself and his co-workers, wants to tell how giddily he expected Sabo to come in everyday, how happy he was when they started talking.

How Sabo smiling at him right now and holding his hand is making his chest so tight that it’s hard to breathe.

Ace opens his mouth to say something, anything but promptly snaps it closed and looks around in concentration.

Sabo looks at him in confusion. He’s about to ask why he’s acting so weird all of a sudden but Ace shushes him and signals to listen carefully.

Once they stay still for long enough, they hear it.

“They’ve been quiet for some time now.”

That sounded like Thatch.

“They’re probably making out.”

And that’s definitely Marco.

Ace slaps his own face in annoyance. He shouldn’t have expected anything less of the guys. Him and Sabo alone in the same room? Of course they’re gonna try to listen in.

Ace stands up and moves towards the door. He steps a bit out of its way and opens it, causing Marco, Thatch, Vista and Jozu to fall in. He peeks outside and yup, the rest of the staff are crowded around Whitebeard’s office.

“Really guys?” at that, everyone scrambles.

He looks back at the four people currently relaxing on the floor and just glares. They don’t look ashamed at all – Marco even dares to wink at him.

“If you’re done lying around, then get back to work,” a voice booms behind Ace. He turns around and sees Whitebeard, a little red McDonald’s hat placed neatly on top of his head.

“Yes, boss!” the guys quickly shuffle out, leaving Ace, Sabo and Whitebeard alone in the small office.

“Ace.”

“Yes, sir?”

“You can have the rest of the day off. Go home and rest, Vista will take over for you,” Whitebeard’s gaze shifts to Sabo. He looks the young man over and gives a couple of approving nods. “You. Sabo, right? Make sure that my precious boy gets home without any more accidents.”

“I will,” Sabo promises and leads Ace out by the hand. Ace waves goodbye to Whitebeard and his boss waves back, smiling.

Ace grabs his coat and backpack from the coat rack as they move out of the back.

They pass through the kitchen – Ace sees Jozu watching them, big fat tears falling into the burger meat, and Thatch sobbing while frying a batch of chicken nuggets – then pass the counter – Marco’s grinning from ear to ear and Vista is giving him a thumbs-up – then pass the tables, the entrance and they’re finally out.

Ace thinks that Sabo will let go of his hand now that they’re outside but as if reading his thoughts, Sabo only tightens his grip, not intent on letting go just yet. Ace gives a squeeze back.

“So, where would you like to go?”

Ace looks around, deep in thought.

“Marco recommended me this new aquarium that recently opened at the docks. Apparently they have some really cool fish.”

“I’ve been wanting to go there for some time now,” Sabo looks at him and laughs. “Though I didn’t want to go there alone.”

Ace smirks and tugs Sabo towards the bus stop on the other side of the parking lot.

“Well it seems that it’s your lucky day because I’m here to inform you that I’m gonna be joining you,” Sabo’s face lights up at those words and the smile he sends Ace is so genuine, _so radiant_ , that Ace swears his heart stops beating.

“When should we meet?”

“I thought that maybe we could go there at like 10 and later take a walk on the docks? The newscaster said the weather should be great that day.”

“Sounds like a great plan to me.”

“Sounds like a great date.”


End file.
